Advanced Photonix Inc. awarded NASA grant to create ultra-sensitive infrared detectors.

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 1995--Advanced Photonix Inc. (ASE:API) Monday announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The $70,000 grant will be used to develop a near-infrared version of the company's award-winning Large Area Avalanche Photodiodes (LAAPDs). Advanced Photonix was one of 304 small businesses to be awarded the grant out of 1,947 proposals. If the initial research is successful, the work may lead to a Phase II proposal and grant of approximately 10 times the Phase I value.

NASA intends to use the new infrared version of LAAPDs to map the Earth's surface from airplanes and satellites.

In announcing the award, James W. Ward, chairman of the board of Advanced Photonix, noted, "This announcement will help position the LAAPD as the detector of choice in a wider range of applications. Silicon has inherently broad detection capabilities, and this award should extend the large area APD capability and perform over the detection range better than any other silicon detector."

Ward emphasized the success that has been achieved in pursuing the company's strategy of funding LAAPD development and broadening LAAPD capability with contributions from government-funded programs. During the current fiscal year, the company has been awarded three LAAPD-related development contracts.

In addition to this NASA contract, the company was awarded a Phase II Department of Energy grant of approximately $750,000 based upon the success of a Phase I effort, and was awarded a $1.1 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Pentagon and the Aircraft Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center. These types of programs allow the company to expand API detector capabilities and speed their commercial availability.

Advanced Photonix's LAAPDs are more sensitive than other solid-state detectors when operating at higher signal speeds with weak amounts of light. They also offer advantages over the conventional photomultiplier tube (PMT), such as ruggedness, compactness, immunity to magnetic fields and sensitivity to a wider variety of light intensities without distortion.

Advanced Photonix LAAPDs are also uncommonly large, rendering them efficient for capturing light signals in free space. For these reasons, the LAAPD is considered an excellent candidate for detecting light from NASA lasers that travel over long distances to the detector. By the time these signals arrive, much of their signal is lost in the atmosphere so the detector must be ultra-sensitive.

NASA plans to use these detectors, once developed, to map the topography and the vegetation of the Earth. Moreover, their improved infrared response may eventually be coupled with near-infrared lasers in a variety of applications for the remote measurement of the atmosphere's features, including clouds, aerosols, ozone, water vapor, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, air temperature, air density and wind speed.

One of the most promising commercial applications of this near-infrared enhanced LAAPD is collision avoidance. Industry analysts predict that collision avoidance systems, based on light detection and ranging, will appear on automobiles within five years, and may employ a solid state light detector like the LAAPD for its sensitivity and ruggedness. Such a detector will have to detect near-infrared light to remain eye-safe.

The infrared enhanced LAAPD may also be the detector of choice for identifying military planes, helicopters, tanks, transports and naval vessels as friendly. This system, known as Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), is designed to prevent the tragedies associated with "friendly fire."

Implementation of an IFF transmitter-detector system will no doubt be universally fitted to all military vehicles and aircraft once an appropriate technology is chosen. Infrared light is used because it cannot be easily seen by the enemy.

Advanced Photonix is a leading designer and manufacturer of opto-electronic semiconductor-based components and hybrid assemblies, including proprietary solid-state silicon large-area avalanche photodiodes.

CONTACT: Advanced Photonix Inc., Camarillo

Patrick J. Holmes, 805/987-0146